Ma be tso buai!
I'm
Ari Tison
In Bribri, the word for story is siwa'. Siwa' is synonymous with story, history, knowledge, and wind as our stories carry though the generations like the wind bringing history and knowledge.
I love being a storyteller and getting to continue the tradition. In practice, sometimes this means I'm working on my novels, a poem, learning my Indigenous language, co-translating a Bribri story, or participating in a reading.
who are the bribri people?
We are one of the eight Indigenous people groups of Costa Rica.
I've been writing since I was a little girl.
that's me & my dad
this is me & my dad
Here's me at Hamline's MFAC Program at a Summer Residency.
I love teaching and my colleagues and students are some of my favorite people in the world.
I love to dance
and once hit up the dance floor with Joy Harjo,
the first Native Poet Laureate of the United States.
I draw pictures of poems, shapes, and arcs while I’m planning a story.
I’m an amateur painter
i love to travel
It's ever fascinating to me to learn what someone else's everyday life looks like, AND I'm a sucker for museums and anything historical. Last October I was in Europe. Here's me on a rainy night in Venice.
I love to experiment and write in different forms and for a variety of audiences:for children, adults, and young adults. I'm in process on a historical novel...and middle grade *HORROR*? Here's me at my last writing retreat in a YUrt!
It's an honor to create alongside so many other artists, creators, and writers. I continue to feel blessed and grateful to be able to do so as well.